1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an improved sea-based air vehicle system and, in particular, to an unmanned, jet-powered air vehicle that is capable of launch, recovery, and re-launch at sea without the need for a conventional flight deck (e.g., an aircraft carrier), wherein the air vehicle possesses specific features and systems to enable repeated water immersion for launch and recovery operations.
2. Description of the Related Art
Submarine-launched, unmanned air vehicles are well known in the prior art. For example, Regulas and Tomahawk missiles have been developed and deployed by the U.S. Navy. Another example includes WWII-era, Japanese I-Class submarines that were equipped with deck-mounted seaplane enclosures. These unique submarines would surface and the seaplanes would be removed from their watertight enclosures for assembly and launch. The float-equipped seaplanes would return to land in the water near the submarine, and would be recovered via a crane. After recovery, the seaplane was disassembled on-deck and returned to its watertight enclosure.
Regulas was a 1950's-era, U.S. submarine-launched missile system. Like the Japanese I-Class submarines, the Regulas missiles were carried in a deck-mounted, watertight enclosure aboard a specially-modified submarine. Once the submarine surfaced, the missiles were assembled and then launched using a disposable rocket booster. However, the Regulas missile was an expendable weapon system, and was not intended to be recovered by the launching submarine.
In the 1980's, the U.S. began using submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles. A version of the Tomahawk cruise missile was developed for submerged launch from a submarine. The missile is ejected from the submarine using high pressure gas, and a rocket booster is used to broach the ocean surface and attain altitude and flying speed. Like Regulas, the jet-powered Tomahawk cruise missile is an expendable weapon system, and no provisions are made for recovery by a submarine. Although each of these prior art designs provides a solution for a specific sea-based application, an improved system for enabling a jet-powered air vehicle capable of launch, recovery, and re-launch at sea, without the need for a conventional flight deck, or from below the sea surface would be desirable.